Low cost domestic scale technologies for safe drinking water

In Bangladesh the problem of arsenic in tubewell water can be easily solved through switching back to arsenic free surface water that was used since ancient times. The main hazard of surface water is diarrhoeal germs, but these can be easily destroyed by heating to or above 60°C. The present work describes the innovation of a very low cost domestic scale solar device for use in rural areas that can attain more than such temperatures in about two hours. UV in sunshine facilitates this destruction even at lower temperatures. All results were backed by microbiological studies. A low cost domestic scale rainwater harvesting device is also described that can be kept clean to obtain drinking water. Both the above devices can be useful at normal periods and during or after disasters.